Drug law violations

Enforcement

Arrests and seizures

Arrests

Federal, state, and local agencies share responsibility for enforcing
the Nation's drug laws, although most arrests are made by state and local
authorities. In 2007 the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Uniform Crime
Reports (UCR) estimated that there were about 1,841,200 state and local arrests
for drug abuse violations in the United States.

According
to the UCR, drug abuse violations are defined as state and/or local offenses
relating to the unlawful possession, sale, use, growing, manufacturing,
and making of narcotic drugs including opium or cocaine and their derivatives,
marijuana, synthetic narcotics, and dangerous nonnarcotic drugs such as
barbiturates.

More than four-fifths of drug law violation arrests are for possession.

The estimated number of arrests for drug abuse violations has been increasing.
Arrests of adults increased in recent years, while arrests of juveniles
decreased slightly. Juveniles are defined as persons under age 18. Adults
are defined as persons age 18 or older.

In 1987 drug arrests were 7.4% of the total of all arrests reported to
the FBI; by 2007, drug arrests had risen to 13.0% of all arrests.

In 2007, according to the UCR, law enforcement agencies nationwide made
an estimated 14 million arrests for all criminal infractions except traffic
violations. Among the specific categories, the highest arrest counts were
--

1.8 million for drug abuse violations;

approximately 1.4 million for driving under the influence;

1.3 million for simple assaults; and

1.2 million for larceny-thefts.

Estimated totals of top seven arrest offenses in the United States, 2007

Type of arrest

Number of arrests*

Total arrests*

14,209,400

Drug abuse
violations

1,841,200

Driving under
the influence

1,427,500

Simple assaults

1,305,700

Larceny/theft

1,172,800

Disorderly conduct

709,100

Liquor laws

633,600

Drunkenness

589,400

*Arrest totals are based on all reporting agencies and estimates for
unreported areas.
Source: FBI,Uniform Crime Reports, Crime
in the United States, annually.

From 1987 to 1995
more drug arrests involved heroin or cocaine than other types of drugs.
Since 1996 the number of arrests involving marijuana exceeded that for
other types of drugs.

Drug
seizures

Many
federal agencies are involved in the removal of illicit drugs from the
market. The Federal-Wide Drug Seizure System (FDSS) contains information
about drug seizures made within the jurisdiction of
the United States by
the FBI, DEA, U.S. Customs Service (USCS), and U.S. Border Patrol as well
as maritime seizures made by the U.S. Coast Guard.

the federal government seized 16,270 illegal drug laboratories between
fiscal years 1975 and 2003

in fiscal year 2003, of the 420 labs seized, 409 (97%) manufactured
methamphetamines

in 2008 the DEA program for eradicating domestic marijuana resulted
in the destruction of 8.0 million plants in 20,120 plots, 8,296 arrests,
5,305 weapons seized, and assets seized valued at $66 million.

Federal
agencies

As of September 2004 federal
agencies employed about 105,000 full-time personnel authorized to make
arrests and carry firearms in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, according to data provided by agencies in
response to a Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) survey. Compared with
data reported by agencies for 2002, employment of such personnel
increased by 13%.

The DEA employed
about 4,400 officers with the authority to make arrests and carry firearms as
of September 2004. These DEA agents primarily investigate major narcotics violators,
enforce regulations governing the manufacture and dispensing of controlled
substances, and perform various other functions to prevent and control
drug trafficking.

The FBI employed
12,242 full-time personnel with arrest and firearm authority. These agents
investigate more than 200 types of federal crimes. The FBI has concurrent
jurisdiction with the DEA over drug offenses under the Controlled Substances
Act.

In 2003 about 9 in 10 local police departments regularly performed drug
enforcement functions. More than 90% of the departments in each population
category of 2,500 or more had drug enforcement responsibilities, including
all of those serving 250,000 or more residents. Departments with drug
enforcement responsibilities employed 97% of all local police officers.

Multiagency
task forces

In 2003 an estimated 23% of local police departments had one or more
officers assigned full time to a multiagency drug enforcement task force.
About 65% of all local police officers worked for a department that assigned
officers to a task force. About 5,959 officers were assigned full time
to a drug task force.

The average number of officers assigned full time ranged from 39 in departments
serving a population of 1 million or more to 1 or 2 in those serving fewer
than 50,000 residents.

In 2003 an estimated 47% of sheriffs' offices had one or more officers
assigned full time to a multiagency drug enforcement task force. An estimated
3,477 officers were assigned full time to a drug task force. The average
number ranged from 9 in sheriffs' offices serving a population of 1 million
or more to 1 in those serving fewer than 10,000 residents.

In 1994, 46% of all
prosecutors' offices indicated that at least one prosecutor has been a
member of a multijurisdictional task force. Of offices on such a task
force, 76% indicated drug enforcement to be the goal. In 1992, 30% of
prosecutors' offices reported involvement with a multijurisdictional task
force. Almost 80% of these offices also were involved with a drug task
force.

Over 80% of full-time
offices in large jurisdictions had at least one prosecutor who served
as a member of a multijurisdictional task force. The percentages of full-time
large offices with at least one prosecutor serving on a multi-jurisdictional
task force were --

In 2003, at least 8 in 10 departments in each population category of
10,000 or more administered drug tests in the selection of new officer
recruits. At least 7 in 10 departments serving a population of 2,500 to
9,999, and 6 in 10 departments serving fewer than 2,500 residents did
also.

In 2003, sheriffs' offices serving a population of 100,000 or more were the
most likely to administered drug tests in the selection of new officer
recruits, with percentages in these categories ranging from 78% to 97%.
Departments serving a population of under 10,000 (55%) were the least
likely to test any officers for drug use.